TENNIS in DEPTH.

It has been over two years since Maria Sharapova graced the Top 10 but that period will come to an end after this tournament, as the Russian secured a return to the elite with a dramatic 36 76(6) 76(5) win over Alexandra Dulgheru to reach the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Open. Sharapova, the No.16 seed at the $4.5-million event, was playing the No.26-seeded Dulgheru for the first time and had her hands full the entire time, losing the first set and surviving a tight 90-minute second set in which she was down 4-3 and 6-5, as well as two points away from losing at 6-all in the tie-break.

“It was long. It was tough. It was not my best performance, but I gutted it out until the end,” Sharapova said. “I was making too many errors and my opponent was playing really well and consistent and even though I had the lead, I never took care of it. But at the end of the day I won, so I’m really happy tonight. ”Sometimes it takes more than just playing well.” Sharapova commented on the ankle in her post-match presser. “It hurt when I did it. I’ve iced it a lot, did an ice bath and got it taped. I’ll be okay. I’m tough.”

Sharapova is projected to return to the Top 10 given her results here. It will be an amazing 240th week among the elite, her first 239 all coming consecutively between July 5, 2004 (right after she won Wimbledon) until February 1, 2009 (after she was unable to play the Australian Open, where she had won the year before, due to her well-documented right shoulder injury lay-off). Next for Sharapova is No.21 seed Andrea Petkovic. They are tied in their head-to-head series, 1-1, with Sharapova winning handily in Cincinnati last year and Petkovic getting revenge in Australia this year, 62 63.

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